Machine for producing wood pulp



March 3, 1931. J WIENER 1,795,064

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING WOOD PULP Filed April 12. 1929 a Sheets-Sheet 1 March 3, 1931. wlENER 1,795,064

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING WOOD PULP Filed April 12. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IF I II I I T I I Q I I I I I N l I I {5Q K) I I I I d f: l

is 6 L r 5..

: -[m X a \wm' lln .ammmw A x I:

March 3, 1931. J. A, WIENER 1,795,064

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING WOOD PULP Filed April 12. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE JOHN A. F OSWEGO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO OBWEGO BOARD CORPORA- TION, OF OSWEGO, NEW YOIR-K, A CORPORATION 01 NEW YORK MACHINE FOR PRODUCING WOOD PULP Application filed April 12, 1929. Serial in. 854,667.

This invention relates to mechanical means for producing pulp from logs orother solid bodies of wood, and has for its object to reduce the Wood to a relatively coarse-grain prod- 5 not, suitable for the manufacture of fiber boards and sheets, for walls of buildings and other uses. A particular object is to effect the reduction of the wood by means of a plural arrangement of circular saws, which are mounted upon a carriage that reciprocates beneath a stationary hopper in which the wood is placed, the wood being fed to the saws by gravity. The saws are rotated in the direction of the grain of the wood and slice or shred, as well as partially grind the wood, during the forward and backward travel of the carriage. The sawing element comprises a relatively large number of thin serrated discs, which are mounted in close order upon a common shaft, and are driven at a speed ranging from 1000 to 2000 revolutions per minute. The teeth of the saws are relatively coarse, presenting about three points to the inch, which affords the requisite clearance to prevent choking of the saws. This relatively .broad spacing of the teeth hasthe advantage of enabling the saws to shave or slice 01f long fibers, which are relied upon to bind the.

shorter or finer pulp for eliminating brittle: ness of the boards. The saw carriage reciprocates at the equivalent of 100 to 150 feet per minute. At this rate of travel, the individual teeth of the saw are'engaged for longer intervals, which results in producing a larger percentage of the long fibers, that render the boards less liable to fracture, warp, or crumble at their edges. The teeth of the saws are preferably of the ratchet type, instead of being V-shaped, and when the 9 massed saws are moved forwardly, the radial or steeper faces of the teeth bite into and effect the rapid reduction of the wood. During the return movement of the carriage, the

' opposing tangential faces of the teeth efiect lighter cuts, and tend rather to score than to slice the wood. This scoring has the desirable eifect of defining the depth as well as the breadth of the cuts to be effected by the same teeth, when the travel of the carriage is 0 reversed. This latter feature has the further advantage of lessening the danger of the saws removing irregular and bulky slivers or chips, whichif allowed to become incorporated with the serviceable pulp, destroys the uniformity of texture and tends to 5..- weaken the boards and sheets. This alternate scoringand slicing or shaving of the wood yields pul that is superior to the prodnets of the or inary wood grinders, or of other disintegratin devices of the reciproor eating type, that e ect identical cuts during the forward and backward travel of the parts, the said products havin been found to be unsuited for the'manufaeture of highgrade pulp boards demanded for walls, and 35 the like.

I attain these objects by the means set forth'in the detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, .in 'which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the complete machine embodying my im rovement. Fig. 2 is a front side elevation o the same. Fig. 3 is a central vertical cross-section, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a Vertical longitudinal section, taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of one of the serrated discs. Fig. 6 is a broken central .longitudinal section, taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5. In the drawings, 2 represents an elongated open frame, that is supported 'by four uprights 2, upon which islmgunted a hopper or receptacle 3, in which pulp wood, A, usually in the form of short logs, is disposed. The wood may be delivered to the hopper and inserted through the normally open top, by any suitable conveyer (not shown). The bottom of the hopper 3 is also normally open, and the Wood, A, as it gravitates, comes to rest upon a plane member 4, that forms a part of a carriage B, which supports the whole of the disintegrating orpulping mechanism. The member 4 constitutesa false bottom for the hopper 3, and is considerably longer than the hopper, to enable the carriage B to be reciprocated in a horizontal plane during the reduction of the wood, without danger of the latter escaping from the hopper until it is reduced to pulp.

The carriage B comprises a relatively large rectangular plane platform member 5, which is mounted upon a series of transverse I-beams and channel irons 5.5a, which in turn are supported by long longitudinally disposed channel members 6, that are formed with alining perforations 6', to receive and spaced channel irons 9, that also parallel the' frame 2 and extended the full breadth of the platform, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The member 4 is supported by the channels 9, and intermediate its ends said member is cut away to provide a relatively broad transverse opening 4, which is closed by an insert 40 that is formed with a smaller transverse opening 4-65 (see Figs. 1, 2 and 4), which communicates with the interior of the hopper 3, as best seen in Fig. 1.

The reduction of the wood A is effected by a massed arrangement of circular saws X, which are mounted upon and driven by a shaft 10, the latter being supported by similar bearings 10, which are disposed at the opposite sides and clear of the frame 2, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The bearings-10 are supported by bases 12, mounted upon blocks 12', the latter being secured to the platform 5. Shaft 10 passes horizontally through openings in the channels 9, and the cylindrical mass of saws X is so mounted that their teeth w extend through the opening 462 (see Figs. 1,1,3 and 4), and project above the top level of said insert sufficiently to effect the disintegrating of the'logs A that lie upon the false bottom 4. The shredded or wooly pulp resulting from the action of the saws X, gravitates into an elongated chamber 13, which is formed by the platform 5., channels 9, and the member4, all of which are movable longitudinally beneath the frame 2 by the' reciprocation of the carriage. The left end of the chamber 13 is closed by a wall 13, the right end of said chamber is preferably open, to telescopically receive one end of an angular conduit 14, which always remains partially telescoped, as shown. The outer end of the conduit may connect with any suitable vacuum pump (not shown), for drawing the pulp from the chamber 13. Y J

The massed saws X are driven by a motor 15, which is mounted near one corner of the platform 5, and connects with the saw arbor 10, by means. of pulleys 10a15, mounted respectively on shafts 10 and 15a, the pulleys being connected by a belt 155, and all of the said-parts rotating, for example, in the direction of the arrow in Fig.

1. The carriage B may be reciprocated by any suitable means, as by a motor 16, a wormgear speed reducer 16', and a shaft 16a that supports and drives a pair of eccentric-discs 166, which connect with the adjacent end of the carriage B, by means of' rods 160, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The discs 166 are provided with a number of radial pergential, and said teeth are preferably alter-' nately beveled in opposite directions, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This effects the staggering of the points of the teeth (see Fig. 6), and enables the alternate sets of teeth to effect their deepest cuts, when the'carriage B is moving forwardly, or towards the right, substantially in the planes of the corresponding sides of the saws. When the carriage is reversed, the saws continue to rotate in the same direction, as before,'but owing to the fact that the saws are being moved bodily in the opposite direction, the tangential faces of the teeth tend to drag, which causes them to score, rather than biteythe wood throughout the backward travel of the carriage. These scorings are very desirable for the rea- ,son that they define the breadth, as well as the depth, of the next forward or positive cuts, and lessen the danger of the saws cut ting irregular and oversize slivers and chips which destroy the uniformity of the texture and tend to Weaken the molded boards, as explained. This alternate scoring and deep cutting by the teeth of each disc X, greatly increases the percentage of the long fibres, and since the carriage reciprocates from 25 to 50 times per minutes, these frequent alternations insure the substantially equal distribution of the long and short fibres, and effects such an even mixture of the product, that no special agitation is necessary to mold boards and sheets of uniform texture throughout. By disposing the saws X in close order, as shown and described, all-of the saws perform identical work, and the product throughout an entire reduction period, shows no appreciable variations. This insures the formation of boards and sheets that are not only homogenous, but approach very closely 'to the nature and resistance of the natural wood. By providing the rel mechanism is operated in the manner, and at the speeds, herein set forth, the rate of production is relatively high, and as the machine is extremely simple, and entirely automatic in all respects, except in the matter of the replenishing of the wood A, a greater production may be effected at lower cost for massed circular saws mounted for reciprocal movements beneath said hopper, said saws having teeth formed to slice and'shred the wood in the direction of its grain, means to reciprocate said saws to enable them to cut while being moved bodily in opposite directions, and independent means to rotate said saws.

2. A machine for reducing wood to pulp, including a frame, a hopper having open top and bottom stationary on said frame, a carriage mounted for reciprocation beneath said hopper, the top of said carriage substantially closing the bottom of the hopper and having an opening communicating with the interior of the hopper a plural arrangement of circular saws mounted in close order upon a common shaft and being movable bodily with said carriage, the teeth of said saws extending through said opening and being formed for cuttlng and shredding the bottom surface of the wood, means to reciprocate said carriage to enable the saws to out while traveling in opposlte directions, and means to rotate the saws continuously in one of said directions.

3 A machine for reducing logs and other solid pieces of wood to pulp, comprising a frame, a hopper rigid-to said frame, the top and bottom ends of the hop er being open for the free entry and gravitation of the wood, a carriage rec procatably mounted beneath said hopper having an elongated chamber formed with an opening that communicates with the hopper-and the top of the chamber supporting the wood, a disintegrating mechanism comprising a cylinder formed by the close massing of a number of circular saws, the teeth of the saws extending through said opening and belng formed to disintegrate the bottom surfaces of the logs and deposit the product into said chamber, said saws supported by and being movable with said carnage, means to drive the. saws, means to reciprocate said carriage, and a conduit to carry the pulp from said chamber.

4. A machine for reducing logsand blocks of solid wood to pulp, having in combination with a frame, a hopper for the wood stationary on the frame, the top and bottom ends of the hopper being open, a carriage reciprocatable beneath said hopper, means to operate said carriage, a plural arrangement of circular saws mounted in close order upon a common shaft supported by said carriage, the teeth of the saws being alternately beveled in opposite directions, means to rotate said saws in the direction of the grain of the wood, said carriage being formed with a plane portion that substantially closes the bottom end of the hopper and being formed with an opening facing the wood through which the teeth of the saws extend and bite and cut the bottom surfaces of the logs, said saws being disposed in a chamber that collects the cuttings from the wood, and a conduit telescoping said chamber to carry away the product of the saws.

5. A pulp producing mechanism having in combination with a stationary wood-containing hopper and a carriage that reciprocates beneath the hopper, a plural arrangement of circular saws mounted in close order upon a common shaft, means to mount said saws for movement with the carriage, said saws having cutting means extending into the hopper and formed to cut and wear away the bottom surface of the wood as the latter gravitates towards the carriage, the saws being rotated at high speed in one direction, and being moved bodily in opposite directions at slower speed, and adapted to be in constant engagement with and to out the wood in the directions traveled by said carriage.

6. A pulp producing mechanism, including a movable carriage, a plurality of rotatable cutters on said carriage, means to rotate the cutter, means for feeding wood to said cutters in the direction of the grain of the wood, said cutters having means to score the wood when the carriage is moved in one direction and to shred the same when the carriage is moved in a second direction, and means for moving said carriage.

7. A pulp producing mechanism, including rotatable wood engaging means, means for rotating the wood engaging means, means for feeding the wood to the first named means in the direction of the grain of the wood, and

means for moving the wood engaging means first in one direction and then in a second di rection, said wood engaging means being formed to score the wood when said means is moved in the first direction and to shred the wood when said means is moved in the second direction. 7

8. A pulp producing mechanism, including a wood containing hopper having an open bottom, acarriage beneath said hopper having-a part formed to provide a false bottom for the hopper and to support the wood thereon, wood cuttin means carried by the carriage and exten ing through said false bottom, and meansto move the carriage to cause the cutting means to operate on the wood.

, fed to the saws by gravity, and means to reciprocate the saws for enabling said teeth to alternately score and shred the Wood.

10. A machine for reducing wood to pulp, having in combination with a frameto support a stationary hopper that contains the wood, a cylindrical arrangement of massed circular saws mounted for reciprocal movements beneath and in the direction of the grain of the wood stacked in the hopper, said saws having teeth formed with radial faces to slice and shred the wood when they are moved in one direction and said teeth having tangential faces to score the wood for defining the breadth and depth of the slicin and shredding cuts when they are moved in the opposite direction, means for reciprocating said saws, and means for rotating the saws.

11. A machine for reducing logs or blocks of solid wood to pulp, having in combination an open frame and a stationary hopper to house the wood, rising from the frame, the top and bottom ends of the hopper being open, a carriage reciprocable beneath the hopper, said carriage being formed with a chamber having an opening facing the wood, the top of said chamber supporting the wood by gravity, means to reciprocate said carriage, a plural arrangement of circular saws disposed in said chamber, the saws being mounted in close order upon a common shaft, the teeth of the saws extending through said opening and disposed to cut the bottom surfaces of the logs in the direction of the ain of the wood during the reciprocation 0 said carriage, said teeth having a radial face formed to bite deeply into the wood when the carriage is moved in one direction and said teeth further being formed with a tangential face to score the wood while the carriage is being moved in the opposite direction to define the next deep cuts when the carriage is reversed, and means to drive said saws.

12.,A pulp producing mechanism, including movable wood engagin means, means for feeding'the wood to t e first named means in the direction of the grain ofrthe wood, means for moving the wood engaging means first in one direction and then in the second direction, means on the first named means having a tangential face arranged to score the wood when the wood, engaging said cutters having radial faces to shred the wood when the carriage is moved in the second direction and means for moving said carriage.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN A. WIENER. 

